Soft Electronics Manufacturing Using Microcontact Printing

This work describes a microcontact printing (mu CP) process for reproducible manufacturing of liquid gallium alloy-based soft and stretchable electronics. One of the leading approaches to create soft and stretchable electronics involves embedding liquid metals (LM) into an elastomer matrix. Although the advantages of liquid metal-based electronics have been well established, their mainstream adoption and commercialization necessitates development of precise and scalable manufacturing methods. To address this need, a scalable mu CP process is presented that uses surface-functionalized, reusable rigid, or deformable stamps to transfer eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) patterns onto elastomer substrates. A novel approach is developed to create the surface-functionalized stamps, enabling selective transfer of LM to desired locations on a substrate without residues or electrical shorts. To address the critical needs of precise and reproducible positioning, alignment, and stamping force application, a high-precision automated mu CP system is designed. After describing the approach, the precision of stamps is evaluated and EGaIn features (as small as 15 mu m line width), as well as electrical functionality of printed circuits with and without deformation, are fabricated. The presented process addresses many of the limitations associated with the alternative fabrication processes, and thus provides an effective approach for scalable fabrication of LM-based soft and stretchable microelectronics.